Manicuring device



March 28, 1967 E. H- THOMPSON MANICURING DEVICE Filed July 6, 1964 GE /S H. flan 1250M,

INVENTOR.

firrae/us United States Patent O 3,311,117 MANICURING DEVICE Eugene H. Thompson, 5204 N. Baldwin Ava, Temple City, Calif. 91780 Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,288 7 Claims. (Cl. 132--73.6)

This invention relates to a manicuring device and, more particularly, relates to such a device having an abrasive disk for filing fingernails.

One problem in the use of any type of manicuring abrader is to exercise the close control over the position of a fingernail relative to the abrading surface as required for precise shaping of the fingernail to a desired configuration. In the employment of a conventional blade-type nail file, for example, reciprocation of the nail file by extensive arm movement is an awkward operation that prevents delicate adjustment of the abrading surface relative to the fingernail.

The necessity of such arm movement has been avoided in some instances by providing a power driven abrasive disk of relative small diameter but a new difiiculty'is encountered in the traction of the disk on the fingernail tending to move the finger out of a desired relative position. Various expedients in the form of guards and finger rests have been suggested to meet this last difficulty.

Guards and finger rests, however, usually not only unduly limit access to the whole abrasive area but also interfere with full visibility of the abrasive action on the fingernail.

Another prior art suggestion is to provide a power driven grinding wheel of small diameter with a finger rest adjacent the wheel to facilitate applying a fingernail edgewise to the outer circumferential surface of the grinding wheel. The inherent disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the peripheral curvature of the grinding wheel is opposite to the desired curved profile of the fingernail and care must be exercised to keep the grinding wheel from cutting an arcuate recess in the edge of the fingernail.

The present invention meets all of these difiiculties by providing a hollow rotary operating head with an end face covered by an abrasive disk and with a finger rest in the form of a retractable spring-loaded plunger extending axially from the abrasive face. Since the fingernail is applied to the face of a rotary abrasive member as distinguished from application against an outer circumferential surface, the abrasive member does not tend to cut arcuate recesses in the edge of the fingernail and no special care or skill is required to shape a fingernail to a pleasingly curved profile. A further advantage of such an arrangement is that the whole abrasive surface is accessible and maximum visibility of the operation is afforded.

One feature of the invention is that the outer end of the plunger is concave to provide a shallow curved recess that conforms in a general manner to the curvature of the end of a finger and helpfully tends to keep the finger seated on the plunger. Another feature is that there is a high degree of freedom for relative rotation between the rotary disk and the plunger with the consequence that only light frictional contact of the finger with the plunger is required to keep the plunger stationary. In this regard an advantage of the arrangement is that the spring pressure on the plunger results in the required friction to immobilize the plunger since the plunger is depressed against spring pressure to various degrees in the process of shaping a fingernail.

The invention has special utility for shaping the corners of a fingernail. For this purpose the user tilts a finger in its seat on the outer end of the plunger and depresses the plunger to whatever degree is required. In the preferred practice of the invention, the plunger may be depressed to a limit position which provides a minimum safe spacing of the flesh of the finger from the traveling surface of the abrasive disk.

One embodiment of the invention is power actuated and for this purpose the hollow operating head is rotatably mounted on a handle and is actuated by power means inside the handle. In this embodiment the outer circumferential surface of the rotary head may be covered with a suitable material such as chamois for use in butfing and olishing fingernails. Another embodiment, however, comprises simply a hollow head with an axial shank or stem of reduced diameter by means of which the head may be held and simultaneously rotated by finger manipulation.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, which is to be regarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an embodiment of the invention in which the abrasive disk is power actuated;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the rotary head of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view showing how the retractable spring-pressed plunger serves as a finger rest for shaping the tip of a fingernail;

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing how the plunger serves as a finger rest for shaping the corner of a fingernail; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a simplified manually operable embodiment of the invention.

In the first embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a hollow handle 10 houses a battery-actuated motor (not shown) under the control of manual switch 12. A hollow head 14 of cylindrical configuration is mounted on a drive shaft 15 for rotation by the motor, the outer end face of the hollow head being covered by a ring-shaped abrasive disk 16. The abrasive disk is of a well known type of the character of sandpaper or emery cloth and is removably mounted on the hollow head in any suitable manner. In the illustrated practice of the invention, for example, the abrasive disk 16 has a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive on its inner face by means of which it is bonded to the hollow head in a conveniently releasable manner,

As shown in FIG. 2, a finger rest which may be termed a work rest in the form of a plunger 18 is slidingly and rotatably mounted inside the hollow head 14 and retractably extends through an axial opening 20 in the end wall 22 of the head. In the construction shown, the plunger 18 is formed with a circumferential shoulder 24 on its inner end which normally abuts the inner surface of the end wall 22 to serve as a stop to limit the axially out ward movement of the plunger. The inner end of the plunger is formed with a circular recess 25 to serve as a seat for a coil spring 26 which acts under compression to urge the plunger outward. Preferably the outer end of the plunger is dished or formed with a shallow curved recess 28 to seat the end of a finger as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. A further feature of the first embodiment of the invention is that the outer circumferential surface of the head 14 is covered with a sleeve of a suitable material for buffing or polishing fingernails. The sleeve 30 may, for example, be made of chamois.

The manner in which the first embodiment of the invention functions for its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. With the handle 10 held in one hand and the switch 12 closed to energize the motor, the user seats an end of a finger in the recess 28 of the plunger 18 and depresses the plunger to the degree required for the desired abrasive action on the fingernail. The seating of the finger on the outer end of the plunger makes it possible to maintain the finger at any desired position and to control the finger closely for accurately filing the fingernail to a desired configuration. The frictional pressure of the finger against the plunger keeps the plunger from rotating and thereby makes the plunger more effective for retaining the finger in any desired position. It is readily apparent that the plunger serves as a safety feature to keep the flesh of the finger from inadvertently touching the traveling abrasive surface.

When it is desired to shape the corner of a fingernail, the end of the finger is canted or tilted to rest in the seat 28 on the outer end of the plunger and then the plunger is depressed to the extent required. FIG. 4 shows the plunger depressed to its inner limit position at which the finger is held at a safe minimum spacing from the abrasive disk 16 to avoid abrasive action on the flesh of the finger. Once a fingernail is shaped to the desired configuration, the fingernail may be polished by means of the peripheral layer 30 on the cylindrical surface of the head.

A feature of the invention is that the abrasive disk 16 is of convex configuration. The advantage is that this configuration results in forming the edge of the fingernail with a bevel or undercut.

The second simpler embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5 is of the same general construction as the first embodiment as indicated by the use of corresponding numerals to indicate corresponding parts. The device is a manually operated device and threfore the shaft of the first embodiment of the invention is replaced by an axial stem or shank 15a of reduced diameter. Since the device is not power driven the sleeve 30 is omitted from the head 14.

The device may be manually rotated either by gripping the cylindrical surface of the head 14 or by gripping the shank 15a. Since the shank 15a is of small dimension, it is a simple matter to grasp the shank between a thumb and a forefingerto spin the device for the abrasive operation. The end of the shank 15a is cut to a taper as indicated at 32 to function in the well known manner of an orange stick to push back the cuticle adjacent the fingernail. The tapered end of the shank 15a may also be used to clean under the fingernail.

My description in specific detail of the selected embodiments of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described for abrasively processing a portion of an object for example for processing the fingernail of a finger, the combination of:

a rotatable head having an end face and an axial bore;

a rest for contact with a portion of the object in the form of a plunger slidingly mounted in said bore and extending axially from the end face and retractable axially inward from an outer limit position; resilient means normally yieldingly urging the plunger towards its outer limit position; and

an annular abrasive means mounted on the end face and surrounding the plunger there being a high degree of freedom for relative rotation between the head and the plunger to permit the plunger to be held against rotation by frictional contact with the object.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the outer end of the plunger is concave to conform at least partially to the curvature of the end of a finger.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the plunger is retractable to an inner limit position at which the plunger protrudes slightly beyond the abrasive means whereby the plunger may be retracted to its limit position by the pressure of one portion of the object for the purpose of abrading an adjacent portion of the object.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the head is mounted on an axial stem of reduced diameter for rotation of the head by finger manipulation.

5. In an abrasive device, the combination of:

a hollow handle;

power means at least partially housed in the handle;

a hollow head rotatably mounted on the handle and operatively connected to the power means for rotation thereby, the head having an end face;

a work rest in the form of a plunger extending axially from the end face and retractable axially inward into the hollow head from an outer limit position;

resilient means normally yieldingly urging the plunger towards its outer limit position; and

an annular abrasive means mounted on the end face and surrounded by the plunger there being a high degree of freedom for relative rotation between the head and the plunger to permit the plunger to be held against rotation by frictional contact with the object.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 in which the hollow head has a cylindrical peripheral surface; and

in which the peripheral surface is covered by a sleeve of yielding material for buffing fingernails.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the annular abrasive means is convex to undercut a fingernail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,709,591 4/1929 Newbound 132-73.6 1,915,305 6/1933 Gallagher 13275.8 2,923,303 2/1960 Hundt 132-75.8 3,169,536 2/1965 Caracciolo 132--73.6

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,682,475 8/ 1928 Blomquist. 1,860,629 5/1932 Stevenson et al. 2,117,053 5/1938 Bickley. 2,923,303 2/1960 Hundt.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

G. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner, 

1. IN A DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FOR ABRASIVELY PROCESSING A PORTION OF AN OBJECT FOR EXAMPLE FOR PROCESSING THE FINGERNAIL OF A FINGER, THE COMBINATION OF: A ROTATABLE HEAD HAVING AN END FACE AND AN AXIAL BORE; A REST FOR CONTACT WITH A PORTION OF THE OBJECT IN THE FORM OF A PLUNGER SLIDINGLY MOUNTED IN SAID BORE AND EXTENDING AXIALLY FROM THE END FACE AND RETRACTABLE AXIALLY INWARD FROM AN OUTER LIMIT POSITION; RESILIENT MEANS NORMALLY YIELDINGLY URGING THE PLUNGER TOWARDS ITS OUTER LIMIT POSITION; AND AN ANNULAR ABRASIVE MEANS MOUNTED ON THE END FACE AND SURROUNDING THE PLUNGER THERE BEING A HIGH DEGREE OF FREEDOM FOR RELATIVE ROTATION BETWEEN THE HEAD AND THE PLUNGER TO PERMIT THE PLUNGER TO BE HELD AGAINST ROTATION BY FRICTIONAL CONTACT WITH THE OBJECT. 